


The Unsolved Equation

by hardboiledbaby



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: Gen, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-07
Updated: 2010-01-07
Packaged: 2017-10-05 22:34:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/46721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardboiledbaby/pseuds/hardboiledbaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some things aren't easy to figure out, even for Murray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Unsolved Equation

Murray stood in front of the mirror and examined his reflection carefully. He squared his shoulders, brushed his hair, and adjusted his tie, just so. Normally, he didn't pay much attention to his appearance, but today was important. He wanted to make a good impression. He even tried on several different expressions, but none of them projected the rad and hip image he was hoping for. The best he could seem to do was geeky-smart, but that was better than looking gassy or confused, so he settled for that. Not that geeky-smart was a bad thing, these days.

Back when he was in school, being a geek meant you were pretty low in the social pecking order; at least, the order as it was determined by the jocks, cheerleaders, and the rest of the in-crowd. This was not to say that he had been unpopular or disliked. However, being in the chess club, the science club, _and_ the honor society didn't exactly make you a chick magnet, nor did it get you invited to sit at the cool kids' table during lunch.

Now, though, it seemed geek was good. He was starting a new job, and while he didn't much care for the higher-ups running the show, they'd promised him free rein to do as he liked, along with the funding and equipment to do it with. Cutting-edge stuff, with him doing the cutting. It was going to be _so_ boss.

_Wasn't it?_

He liked R&amp;D, really he did, but somewhere along the line, work had become the sole thing that defined his life, and he knew there had to be more. He just wasn't sure what, yet. It nagged at him, like an equation that had all the variables, but with a constant missing. Out of balance, incomplete.

Murray sighed. Now wasn't the time to analyze this problem, or he'd be late—definitely not the impression he wanted to make on his first day. He took one last glance in the mirror, tried to tweak the smile a bit to make it more smart, less geeky, before heading out the door. He would figure it out, eventually.

After all, figuring things out was what he did best.


End file.
